On October 27, Expanding the Bench® (ETB) co-hosted the event Where Do You Work? Evaluation From an Indigenous Place-Based Perspective. Presented by Michelle M. Jacob, PhD (Yakama) of Anahuy Mentoring, LLC. Culturally Responsive and Indigenous Evaluation (CRIE)© is a term coined by Advancing Culturally-responsive and Equitable (ACE) Evaluation Network Member Nicole R. Bowman, PhD (Mohican/Lunaape) of Bowman Performance Consulting, LLC.

As part of ETB’s ongoing efforts to promote culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE), the ACE Evaluation Network Database, and the Initiative’s various programs, this presentation was a free public access event, open to diverse learners curious about CRIE. Michelle summarized the main points of CRIE, drawing from the published work of Indigenous experts, particularly Waapalaneexkweew Nicole R. Bowman, PhD and Carolee Dodge-Francis, EdD. Michelle practices “The Auntie Way,” a kind and fierce educational approach—so that learners feel both invited in and understand they are expected to reach high standards of practice.

“CRIE, articulated by Waapalaneexkweew Dr. Bowman, has the power and potential to transform evaluation—to move from the legacy of harm and exclusion that has saturated settler colonial institutions (and to a large extent evaluation approaches)—to become a liberatory practice that honors and supports Indigenous self-determination in all programs and institutions that are built on Indigenous homelands,” Michelle says.

Some of the main concepts discussed during the event were:

• Decentering the whitestream way of thinking and being.
• Honoring Elders’ instructions on how to conduct oneself in the world in ways that affirm Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
• Emphasizing the importance of place and Indigenous homelands and examining resources to support learners.

Watch the Event Here:

While ETB centers racially and ethnically diverse Evaluators who have been historically and/or are presently underrepresented and/or marginalized in the U.S., the initiative recognizes that Indigenous evaluators — and those who practice CRIE — have not been uplifted in ETB’s programming and events in an equitable way. In recognition of our own gaps in equity work, ETB is committed to supporting CRIE-practicing professionals by promoting and engaging in the education of CRIE.

Download a PDF of the slideshow presentation here.